Water relations in tree leaves
Takami SAITO, Ph.D
Post doctral fellow
Laboratory of Plant Ecology

I am studying plant water relations using ecophsiological techniques. The responses for water stress in water relations (bulk elasitc modulus) of tree leaves, and the mechanical properties of cell walls are my recent study subjects.

1. Transpiration and leaf water relations in deciduous broad-leaved trees　（Saito et al. 2003）
   The species difference in the maximun transpiration rate had close relationship with that in the capacity for turgor maintenance in eight broad-leave trees.
   
   
2. Response of bulk elastic modulus in a tree leaf to water stress　（Saito and Terashima 2004）
   The bulk elastic modulus decreased rapidly and reversibely in response to water stress in matured deciduous oak leaves.
   
   
3. The bulk elastic modulus and mechanical properties of cell walls　（Saito et al. 2006）
   I showed the evidence that the bulk elastic modulus in a leaf have close relationship with Young's modulus of cell walls in leaf tissue.
   
   
4. Eco-physiological behaviour in old leave in evergreen trees.（Saito et al. 2007）
   Leaf water potential did not decrease when the new leaves are expanding in the shoot of evergreen oak species.
   
   

Saito T., Naiola B.P. & Terashima I. (2007) Conservative decrease in water potential in existing leaves during new leaf expansion in temperate and tropical evergreen Quercus species. Annals of Botany. 100. 1229-1238.
http://aob.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/100/6/1229

Saito T., Soga K., Hoson T. & Terashima I. (2006) The bulk elastic modulus and the reversible properties of cell walls in developing Quercus leaves. Plant & Cell Physiology. 47(6). 715-725.
http://pcp.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/47/6/715

Saito T. & Terashima I. (2004) Reversible decrease in the bulk elastic modulus of mature leaves of deciduous Quercus leaves subjected to different drought treatments. Plant, Cell & Environment. 27. 863-875.
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-3040.2004.01192.x

Saito T., Tanaka T., Tanabe H., Matsumoto Y. & Morikawa Y. (2003) Variations in transpiration rate and leaf cell turgor maintenance in saplings of deciduous broad-leaved tree species common in cool temperate forests in Japan. Tree Physiology 23: 59-66.
http://heronpublishing.com/tree/summaries/volume23/a23-59.html